Ubiquitous access to weapons of war

Heinrich continues push for limits on some semi-automatic guns

By Maya Hilty mhilty@sfnewmexican.com Jan 24, 2024

When U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich was growing up in a conservative, rural town in Missouri, “gun safety was just drilled into you.”

But since those days, the New Mexico Democrat noted America’s gun culture has shifted from one of safety to that of “complete permissiveness.”

Altering the current trend was one of many factors leading to Heinrich’s co-sponsorship of a bill that would regulate gas-operated, semi-automatic weapons with a fixed capacity of more than 10 to 15 rounds of ammunition, depending on the firearm. At a news conference livestreamed from the Capitol building in Washington, D.C., Heinrich and March Fourth, a nonprofit determined to end mass shootings, pushed support for the legislation.

“You can be a gun owner, you can be a sportsman and, simultaneously, you can realize that we should not have ubiquitous access to weapons of war in our country — because it’s not safe and because of the incredible toll that we are all paying as a result of ... the current lack of regulation of assault weapons,” Heinrich said.

He has said the bill, called the Gas-Operated Semi-Automatic Firearms Exclusion Act, faces dim prospects in Congress, though similar legislation has been introduced in the New Mexico Legislature. State Reps. Andrea Romero, D-Santa Fe; Linda Serrato, D-Santa Fe; Patricia Roybal Caballero, D-Albuquerque; and Charlotte Little, D-Albuquerque, introduced their bill last week. It is scheduled for a hearing Thursday in the House Consumer and Public Affairs Committee.

At the federal level, Heinrich remains optimistic Republicans could sign on to his initiative.

“Having started out in a very different position on these issues, I think it’s important that leaders of all stripes are able to accept new information and change their mind because they have better information,” he said.

“When the data is so clear and the stories are so tragic,” change is necessary, Heinrich added, observing politicians have had more willingness to act since a devastating mass shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, in May 2022.

A handful of self-professed conservatives at the news conference Wednesday said mass shootings have changed their minds on gun regulations.

“I had been a staunch Second Amendment woman who believed our freedoms could not be infringed upon with new laws,” actress Melissa Joan Hart said during the news conference. Then, she spent “months of sleepless nights” in praying for families in nearby Newtown, Conn., after the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in 2012.

“I started wanting to make sure that that could never happen again,” Hart added. “We are not free as long as weapons of war are allowed in the hands of untrained, unchecked citizens.”

Heinrich’s GOSAFE Act, co-sponsored by Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, would regulate certain guns based on the lethality of their internal mechanisms and ban detachable magazines with more than 10 rounds of ammunition, with exemptions for federal, state, local and tribal governments. The bill exempts several types of rifles, shotguns and handguns.

The bill would allow people who already possess prohibited guns and magazines at the time the law is enacted to keep the weapons but would prohibit their sale or transfer to anyone other than an immediate family member. It also would prohibit new modifications that turn a gun into a banned type. Meanwhile, the law would establish a buy-back program for nontransferrable guns and magazines.

Under the proposed law, people found to have illegal possession of certain guns would face a misdemeanor penalty of up to $5,000 or one year in jail. The penalty would increase to a felony for anyone committing a federal offense while in possession of a banned weapon.

Joshua Groseclose, president of the New Mexico Shooting Sports Association, a state branch of the National Rifle Association, said in an interview Heinrich’s bill represents a “clear infringement of Second Amendment rights.”

The standard magazine for many guns, including those used for hunting and competitions, as well as some “historic” firearms that constitute collector items, holds more than the number of rounds allowable under the proposed law, Groseclose said.

“There would be a lot of other firearms that would be affected by that bill that are not used in crimes, and it’s also not going to stop the crime issue,” he said.

Given that people own hundreds of millions of guns and magazines across the country, the law would be near impossible to enforce, Groseclose added.

A number of national organizations against gun violence have endorsed Heinrich’s bill, as well as New Mexicans to Prevent Gun Violence; the New Mexico Coalition Against Domestic Violence; the Taos Alive Coalition; some school superintendents, including Santa Fe Public Schools Superintendent Hilario “Larry” Chavez; and some law enforcement leaders, including the Albuquerque Police Department chief and Doña Ana County Sheriff Kim Stewart.

Heinrich continues push for limits on some semi-automatic guns

By Maya Hilty mhilty@sfnewmexican.com Jan 24, 2024

When U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich was growing up in a conservative, rural town in Missouri, “gun safety was just drilled into you.”

But since those days, the New Mexico Democrat noted America’s gun culture has shifted from one of safety to that of “complete permissiveness.”

Altering the current trend was one of many factors leading to Heinrich’s co-sponsorship of a bill that would regulate gas-operated, semi-automatic weapons with a fixed capacity of more than 10 to 15 rounds of ammunition, depending on the firearm. At a news conference livestreamed from the Capitol building in Washington, D.C., Heinrich and March Fourth, a nonprofit determined to end mass shootings, pushed support for the legislation.

“You can be a gun owner, you can be a sportsman and, simultaneously, you can realize that we should not have ubiquitous access to weapons of war in our country — because it’s not safe and because of the incredible toll that we are all paying as a result of ... the current lack of regulation of assault weapons,” Heinrich said.

He has said the bill, called the Gas-Operated Semi-Automatic Firearms Exclusion Act, faces dim prospects in Congress, though similar legislation has been introduced in the New Mexico Legislature. State Reps. Andrea Romero, D-Santa Fe; Linda Serrato, D-Santa Fe; Patricia Roybal Caballero, D-Albuquerque; and Charlotte Little, D-Albuquerque, introduced their bill last week. It is scheduled for a hearing Thursday in the House Consumer and Public Affairs Committee.

At the federal level, Heinrich remains optimistic Republicans could sign on to his initiative.

“Having started out in a very different position on these issues, I think it’s important that leaders of all stripes are able to accept new information and change their mind because they have better information,” he said.

“When the data is so clear and the stories are so tragic,” change is necessary, Heinrich added, observing politicians have had more willingness to act since a devastating mass shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, in May 2022.

A handful of self-professed conservatives at the news conference Wednesday said mass shootings have changed their minds on gun regulations.

“I had been a staunch Second Amendment woman who believed our freedoms could not be infringed upon with new laws,” actress Melissa Joan Hart said during the news conference. Then, she spent “months of sleepless nights” in praying for families in nearby Newtown, Conn., after the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in 2012.

“I started wanting to make sure that that could never happen again,” Hart added. “We are not free as long as weapons of war are allowed in the hands of untrained, unchecked citizens.”

Heinrich’s GOSAFE Act, co-sponsored by Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, would regulate certain guns based on the lethality of their internal mechanisms and ban detachable magazines with more than 10 rounds of ammunition, with exemptions for federal, state, local and tribal governments. The bill exempts several types of rifles, shotguns and handguns.

The bill would allow people who already possess prohibited guns and magazines at the time the law is enacted to keep the weapons but would prohibit their sale or transfer to anyone other than an immediate family member. It also would prohibit new modifications that turn a gun into a banned type. Meanwhile, the law would establish a buy-back program for nontransferrable guns and magazines.

Under the proposed law, people found to have illegal possession of certain guns would face a misdemeanor penalty of up to $5,000 or one year in jail. The penalty would increase to a felony for anyone committing a federal offense while in possession of a banned weapon.

Joshua Groseclose, president of the New Mexico Shooting Sports Association, a state branch of the National Rifle Association, said in an interview Heinrich’s bill represents a “clear infringement of Second Amendment rights.”

The standard magazine for many guns, including those used for hunting and competitions, as well as some “historic” firearms that constitute collector items, holds more than the number of rounds allowable under the proposed law, Groseclose said.

“There would be a lot of other firearms that would be affected by that bill that are not used in crimes, and it’s also not going to stop the crime issue,” he said.

Given that people own hundreds of millions of guns and magazines across the country, the law would be near impossible to enforce, Groseclose added.

A number of national organizations against gun violence have endorsed Heinrich’s bill, as well as New Mexicans to Prevent Gun Violence; the New Mexico Coalition Against Domestic Violence; the Taos Alive Coalition; some school superintendents, including Santa Fe Public Schools Superintendent Hilario “Larry” Chavez; and some law enforcement leaders, including the Albuquerque Police Department chief and Doña Ana County Sheriff Kim Stewart.